Zack Wheeler Shut Down For Remainder Of Season

Mets righty Zack Wheeler has been shut down for the remainder of the year due to his flexor muscle strain, ESPN’s Adam Rubin writes. He will not resume throwing until he begins to prepare for Spring Training, which would seem to rule out fall and winter ball as well.

That Wheeler will miss the rest of the year is, perhaps, no surprise. Dr. James Andrews diagnosed Wheeler’s flexor strain in mid-August, and given that Wheeler had pitched just one professional inning since having Tommy John surgery in March 2015, it seemed ambitious to think he might return to the mound this season, particularly with the upcoming end to the minor league campaign potentially providing Wheeler with limited opportunities to rehab.

Wheeler, the sixth overall pick in the 2009 draft, headed from the Giants to the Mets for Carlos Beltran in 2011 and continued to develop into one of the game’s better young pitchers, culminating with two productive seasons in the Mets’ rotation in 2013 and 2014. Now, though, he’s 26 and has lost two full years to injury. It remains to be seen how his latest health woes will affect him going forward, but it looks like he’ll be a question mark yet again heading into the 2017 season.

Just a couple of months ago i had a discussion with mets fans about TJS comebacks and that most are never the same. Wish i remembered the guy who said Wheeler will be even better than before. TJS is hard on the body and most are never the same.

the list of pitchers who have had TJS and have returned as good or better then ever is long enough to make this argument invalid. Jose Fernandez is elite, Degrom had TJS early in his pro career and his best years have followed. plus, Heck, look at what Harvey did just last year! His recent surgery for TOS had nothing to do with the elbow. the list of guys who need repeat surgeries or become totally shot following ligament replacement is significantly shorter. Sadly, Wheeler’s TJS was noted at the time as being more extensive and complicated then the standard one so I think its worth remembering that his recovery may reflect that. Wheeler may end up one of those sad cases like Daniel Hudson, or Jarrod Parker but lets not act like MOST pitchers suffer that fate because its categorically and statistically false.

With the number of TJ/elbow problems hitting the mets over the past 2-3, is anyone going to start questioning how Collins chooses to use his pitchers?

I remember seeing syndergaard throw 104(?) pitches 1 start after experiencing elbow soreness. This is not about total innings pitched … This is not even about total pitches (eg 84 total pitches could be worse than 104, but basically every young arm coming up in the same window has gone down with elbow/shoulder issues